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Friday, March 17, 2017

¿Quién tiene la pelota? is a fun
game that kids ask to play over and over again! They will literally ask me: “are
we going to play quién tiene la pelota today”?

I came up with this game to help and encourage my students in
language development and expression. This game teaches the Spanish verb: “tener” in the simple present using the
first and second person singular.

This game will help children learn in Spanish:

1.To
say who has the ball.

2.To
respond in the affirmative if they have the ball.

3.To
respond by making a negation sentence if they don’t have the ball.

Before hand preparation for this game:

Before playing this game, children will need to be first
familiar with what they are going to say. So for that I do the following
activities for about two or three weeks before playing the game:

1.Have
students sit in a circle. Show the ball
to students as you say “la pelota”. Have each student hold it and say “la
pelota” then pass it to the person next to them.

2.Next,
take “la pelota” and give it to each child individually and immediately say: “(insert
student’s name) tiene la pelota.” Do this with all the students.
There is no need to translate. Children will automatically understand what you
are saying or what it means.

3.Next,
gently throw the ball to a student and then ask: “¿quién tiene la pelota?” (Normally at this point the kids understand
what you are asking and most of the time they will respond by just saying the
name of the person who has the ball) but I reinforce each time by saying the
complete sentence “(insert student’s name) tiene la pelota.” This is very
effective because children will eventually start to respond in that manner. In
my experience I had seen some students get it after the second class.

You can even create a chant while keeping a
steady beat with hands patting on legs:

“Corey tiene la pelota” (repeat 3 or 4 times).
Do the same with the other students when they
have the ball. (using their real names J)

Here is how to play: (this game is suitable for ages 4 to 6)

·Have
children sit in a circle with both of their hands behind them as shown in the
picture.

·Select
a student to be the guesser. This student will stand away from the circle
against a wall with eyes closed so he/she will not see to whom the teacher gives
the ball to.

·Teacher
selects a student and puts the ball in his/her hand.

·Once the ball is in someone's hand, teacher calls the student that’s away from the circle and
ask: “¿quién
tiene la pelota?” and the student tries to guess by pointing and saying
for example: “Jessica tiene la pelota” (I’m using different names as an
example, but student will use their classmates real names) if Jessica does not
have la pelota, then she will show both of her hands and say: “no
tengo la pelota” then the guesser will try a second time. If he/she guesses correctly, the person who
has the ball will show the ball as he or she says: “¡si,yo tengo la pelota!”.

·You
can decide before hand how many times guesser can guess before getting it
correct. In my class guesser gets three turns. If student does not guess who
has the ball in the three turns, then either student or teacher can ask “¿quién
tiene la pelota?” then the student that has it will say: “yo tengo la
pelota”.

For older children (ages 7 to 10) you can add a variation on
the last part of the game. If student does not guess who has the ball, then the
guesser can then turn to one of his classmates in the circle and say: “Corey,
dime quién tiene la pelota.” (Corey, tell me who has the ball.) This is
an opportunity to introduce the word: “dime” which means “tell me”. Then Corey will say in Spanish who has the
ball. Example (Juan tiene la pelota)

Another variation to the game is to use other things such as:
carro, osito, silla, regla, borrador, etc (it’s a great way to introduce and
practice vocabulary words)

I find that using the real object is more fun for the kids
but you can also use small cards with the object on it.

For the older children, you can give out three different
items to three children in the circle and guesser will guess who has what…

There are so many variations to the game. These are just some
ideas I came up with and the kids really enjoy it and the best part is that
they are learning in a fun and playful way to speak a foreign language as
natural as they learned their maternal language!

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

These number cards for games are great for reinforcing numbers in any
language.

I created these cards to create fun and engaging games while kids
learn. The kids love to play this game
especially because of the manipulative they use. Instead of using the traditional
Bingo-spotters, I bought some Super Hero figures for the boys and Fairy Tale Friends
for the girls to use as game markers for these cards. The kids love it so much!

Here are some ideas and recommendations to play:

·Give a
card to each student. You can either place the figures for the boys in a small
basket and the figures for girls in another basket and as the numbers are
called out they can pick out the figures to place on the cards; or you can give
each student a certain amount of figures for use.

·Instructor
calls out a number. The first student to complete one vertical and one
horizontal row wins. For variation, you can have a child call out the numbers.

·Create a
fun math game with older children by calling out a number sentence and have
student find the answer to the number sentence on their card. For example you can
say: 4 + 4 or 8 – 6. Children find the number 8 or 2 on their card. These
numbers or number sentence should be called out in the target language. You can
set your own set of rules for winning.

·Depending
on size group you can give children more than one card.

·You can encourage
children to say in Spanish or the target language the number they have found.
For example when calling out a number, students look for that number ,and as
they find it on their card they can say: “encontré cuatro” as an example.

Friday, January 13, 2017

These Interactive Practice Cards are a great supplement to theInteractive Flash Cards Bundle. There are 10 cards. Two cards each for animals, colors,
numbers, shapes and vocabulary. There are 60 round little cards to go along
with each pair of cards.

Children can practice and reinforce what they have learned with this
practical tool. Use them as an evaluation tool, circle time and individual
practice time.

Here are some ideas you can use with these interactive practice cards:

·Use them
for assessment: After children use the Interactive Flash Cards and are familiar
with the images and names in Spanish, use the Interactive Practice Cards for assessment
to see who needs more help. Give each child one or more round cards. Allow them
to take turns placing the round cards on the correct spot on the big card.

·Call out
a word on the big card in Spanish, the student who has the round card places it
on the correct spot on the big card.

·Create
teams and see which team fills the cards correctly first. It can also be done
in pairs.

·Make an
extra copy of the round cards before cutting out for review. You can ask to
point to something specific on the card.

You can create a bingo game with the
cards too!

·Play a
game where children or teacher ask for example: ¿dónde está la mesa? or ¿dónde
está el círculo? Have all the round cards on the floor or in a basket and have
students find the specific item. Once they find it, they place it on the correct
spot on the big card.

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About Me

I have been teaching and working
with children as young as two years old and up for many years. Understanding
that real learning takes place when kids are having fun and actively
participating, I am continually developing ways, games and strategies to encourage
and motivate my students in order to maximize their learning experiences.

I currently teach Spanish and
Music to children
at several Day Cares in Chicago.

I am the creator of Music and
Spanish Fun for Kids.

I am a classically trained pianist.
I am also a composer and arranger. Most of the songs used in the Spanish Fun for
Kids program are my compositions and others my arrangements.